BlizzIt was interesting how much noise everything made now that man was no longer the dominant species, no longer driving, talking, building, or bustling about. On the flip side of that fact, it was almost always so quiet. There were now no clocks, no appointments, no car alarms going off, or text message alerts. It was easy sometimes to drift off and lose perspective or drive. Being witness to the world now and how it had changed along with how it changed those still alive was hard. It was even harder when you were alone for long periods of time.
Chris struggled with finding motivation right now. He laid on the second floor of the abandoned building, staring up at the black and charred ceiling for a few moments before turning his head and looking first left, then right. He looked back up with a sigh and closed his eyes.
“Just lay there. It doesn’t matter. You know this. There’s nothing out there for you or anyone. Everything is dead. Everything is dying.”
Chris grimaced and ignored him. Always nagging, bitching, or wanting to quit. Sometimes, Chris would just dismiss him, sometimes he’d pointedly correct him, or go point-counterpoint. At this time, he closed his eyes and just went with it. The truth of the matter is that right now, at this moment, Chris agreed.
He closed his eyes and wiggled his fingers momentarily. One of his hands wrested on the 9mm revolver that was laid on his chest. That was the norm: that gun was almost always at the ready for danger, but at this moment, his fingers wiggled on it as he contemplated using it.
It wasn’t the first time, even dating back to before the Rising. It most likely wouldn’t be the last. Unless, well, unless it was his last battle with the idea of punching his own ticket.
Then there was a sharp voice that all shouted at him, even though at the same time, it was a whisper. “CJ, what the HELL are you doing? You know better than that, so don’t even think about it. You DO know better.”
He rolled his head back to the left, opened his eyes, and looked into the face of his wife. Even in all of this, she was beautiful and pristine, as if the whole world crumbling around here didn’t affect her at. In fact, it was almost as if amidst all that the world had become, it made her beauty stand out even more. He registered then that her last statement WAS a statement, but it also had a tone that indicated she wanted some form of answer back. “I know babe. Sometimes. Sometimes it’s so hard. I can’t imagine going through this without you.”
She smiled and looked back at him. He sighed and looked back, wishing he could change all of this, give her everything she deserved. Instead, she was condemned to this fate, and that was just the way it was.
His ears perked up at that moment and he stood extremely still, holding his breath. Confirming that he did indeed hear something, he looked to the window and his father waved him over. “There’s activity, come check it out.” He nodded and as quickly as he could move to remain quiet, moved over and looked out the window. He couldn’t quite see yet, but he could make out footsteps off to his right. He knew it wasn’t a roamer. The steps of the roamers tended to be heavy, almost THUDS and many dragged one or both feet when damages. These were plain, good ol’ fashioned human steps.
They walked into view and he counted 5 men who were armed with a combination of melee weapons and a few firearms. They were talking and laughing somewhat casually but what drew Chris’ attention was that 3 of them were leading--well, prisoners it looked like. At this point he started relaying what he was seeing loud enough that he could be heard behind him. “There’s five armed males, melee and a mix of several firearms. Three of them are leading...it looks like 3 prisoners. Wrists tied by rope and they’re leading them. Looks like. A male, two females. One is younger looking, or small. Can’t tell.”
As he watched, one of the men gave the rope a jerk and the larger woman stumbled. This elicited a laugh from the group and Chris shook his head. “Son, leave it be. If they got caught now, it’ll happ—,” Chris angrily waved a hand behind him to shut up. That, below, it wasn’t right. It disgusted Chris. In this world, people should be helping one another. They should be sharing and aiding. And that girl, she wasn't even an adult, he could tell.
He did the math though. Five on one. Those were not good odds at all. Regardless, he pocketed the handgun, picked up his rifle, making his way downstairs. He wasn’t worried about the men coming in here, Chris generally selected building that were noticeably destroyed, burned, or extremely dangerous. People tended to check places that LOOKED worth looking inside of. You didn’t stumble across too many people thinking HEY, let’s go check out what’s on the second floor of that burnt out, shell of a building.
He made his way down and slowly stalked to the window. He peeked, the group walking no more than 15 feet, moving to his left. He looked behind him quickly and his father was shaking his head disapprovingly, but saying nothing. Chris looked back outside and listened.
“...to get this fine thing inside and get down to business. And don’t worry Timmy, I’ll leave some left for you when I’m done.”
The hooded man then said something that Chris couldn’t make out because of the hood, but it seemed the other men heard it, because one of them walked up and kicked the legs out from under him. The man fell, hard, and then got another kick. There was confusion then as the men laughed and talked about killing the man and raping the women while the women pleaded for freedom or not to hurt the man. “Son, you have exactly 76 rounds. Is this worth it? You can’t take them, you can’t go with them, you know this. I know it isn’t easy, but this world, it’s cruel.”
Then, Corporal Black was next to him, whispering in his ear. “You got this. Do it. Take the ones with firearms first, you know the drill. They’re close together, easy targets. And you’ll get at least two before they react. Make that third one count and you’re golden, Devil. Kill those piece of shit rapist thugs. Look man, someone in this fucked up world needs to do some justice. Be that guy.”
“Ooh Rah Corporal,” he said with a slight smirk to his old friend. He moved to the backside of the building which was completely gone from the fire and moved out, taking a deep breath and steadying himself. He looked back and saw his wife, father, and Corporal Black, each of their faces a mix of emotions. He took another deep breath and turned the corner.
Black was right. The first two didn’t have a chance to move, and the third armed man was holding a rope and kicking one of the prisoners, only having time to look up before taking three rounds.
The fourth man got out half of a plea to let him live before he was gunned down, and the last one managed to flee a few steps before taking a round in the back of the hip. He fell down and screamed and Chris kept the weapon trained on him, moving by the hostages and looking around to monitor the rest of the area, checking for other threats. He moved to the bleeding, shot man and just looked at him. The man was almost screaming and you could literally see he was in an excruciating amount of pain. “Please, man, please, don’t shoot me. I...I wasn’t...I swear I hardly—,” he went on quickly before Chris cut him off.
“Shut up. I’m not going to shoot you. You were shot in the hip. That round probably shattered your hip. You don’t feel it now, adrenaline and all.” He took a moment to look back at the hostages and then scan the area before continuing. “So you’re either going to die from internal bleeding, die of infection, get bit, or live and be unable to put much, if any weight on your lower body. Not ideal I know, but people like you should be fucking wiped from the earth. I hope you fucking suffer.”
Just for good measure, Chris kicked him one time in the hip with all of his force which prompted the man to scream bloody hell for several moments. He was back at the hostages in a moment, and the man was still screaming. He removed the head covers quickly and looked at them. They were beat up, sweaty, dirty, and you could see that they’d been crying to some degree. “I’m gunna cut those ropes. You are more than welcome to anything these guys have after I take anything I need.”
The group looked around, slightly confused for a moment before the light of hope shone in their eyes. He didn’t untie them, but instead looted the bodies first. Behind him, they were telling one another it would be ok and trying to be reassuring. The only thing he took was a gerber utility tool, and some 5.56 rounds that he wanted. He looked around one more time, ignoring the man screaming in pain about 20 feet away, he moved to the group and began to cut their bonds as they thanks him. He cut the young female loose first, she was around 16 maybe and she immediately went to hug her father while Chris cut the mother free, then the father.
He simply said there was no reason to thank him and then he declined an invitation to join them. “I have my group, we’re good. I appreciate it. Please be careful.” He moved to the building he was using, told everyone “we’re out in less than five mics, let’s go.” He got his own stuff together and when he went down, he heard his wife. “I am not happy you risked your life like that, but. You did the right thing.”
He nodded and looked over at Corporal Black, who was smiling and nodding his head to indicate he too approved of the decision. He looked around, seeing that they were ready to move out and didn’t waste any more time. He stepped out and moved away from the building and in a direction that wasn’t where the other group had come from, but not where they were going either. Gunfire drew attention, and they needed to stay low and quiet and be on guard.
He looked one last time and the mother waved her hands, watching the lone man walk off without another word.
"Son, you're going to have to learn. You can't save everyone."
Chris struggled with finding motivation right now. He laid on the second floor of the abandoned building, staring up at the black and charred ceiling for a few moments before turning his head and looking first left, then right. He looked back up with a sigh and closed his eyes.
“Just lay there. It doesn’t matter. You know this. There’s nothing out there for you or anyone. Everything is dead. Everything is dying.”
Chris grimaced and ignored him. Always nagging, bitching, or wanting to quit. Sometimes, Chris would just dismiss him, sometimes he’d pointedly correct him, or go point-counterpoint. At this time, he closed his eyes and just went with it. The truth of the matter is that right now, at this moment, Chris agreed.
He closed his eyes and wiggled his fingers momentarily. One of his hands wrested on the 9mm revolver that was laid on his chest. That was the norm: that gun was almost always at the ready for danger, but at this moment, his fingers wiggled on it as he contemplated using it.
It wasn’t the first time, even dating back to before the Rising. It most likely wouldn’t be the last. Unless, well, unless it was his last battle with the idea of punching his own ticket.
Then there was a sharp voice that all shouted at him, even though at the same time, it was a whisper. “CJ, what the HELL are you doing? You know better than that, so don’t even think about it. You DO know better.”
He rolled his head back to the left, opened his eyes, and looked into the face of his wife. Even in all of this, she was beautiful and pristine, as if the whole world crumbling around here didn’t affect her at. In fact, it was almost as if amidst all that the world had become, it made her beauty stand out even more. He registered then that her last statement WAS a statement, but it also had a tone that indicated she wanted some form of answer back. “I know babe. Sometimes. Sometimes it’s so hard. I can’t imagine going through this without you.”
She smiled and looked back at him. He sighed and looked back, wishing he could change all of this, give her everything she deserved. Instead, she was condemned to this fate, and that was just the way it was.
His ears perked up at that moment and he stood extremely still, holding his breath. Confirming that he did indeed hear something, he looked to the window and his father waved him over. “There’s activity, come check it out.” He nodded and as quickly as he could move to remain quiet, moved over and looked out the window. He couldn’t quite see yet, but he could make out footsteps off to his right. He knew it wasn’t a roamer. The steps of the roamers tended to be heavy, almost THUDS and many dragged one or both feet when damages. These were plain, good ol’ fashioned human steps.
They walked into view and he counted 5 men who were armed with a combination of melee weapons and a few firearms. They were talking and laughing somewhat casually but what drew Chris’ attention was that 3 of them were leading--well, prisoners it looked like. At this point he started relaying what he was seeing loud enough that he could be heard behind him. “There’s five armed males, melee and a mix of several firearms. Three of them are leading...it looks like 3 prisoners. Wrists tied by rope and they’re leading them. Looks like. A male, two females. One is younger looking, or small. Can’t tell.”
As he watched, one of the men gave the rope a jerk and the larger woman stumbled. This elicited a laugh from the group and Chris shook his head. “Son, leave it be. If they got caught now, it’ll happ—,” Chris angrily waved a hand behind him to shut up. That, below, it wasn’t right. It disgusted Chris. In this world, people should be helping one another. They should be sharing and aiding. And that girl, she wasn't even an adult, he could tell.
He did the math though. Five on one. Those were not good odds at all. Regardless, he pocketed the handgun, picked up his rifle, making his way downstairs. He wasn’t worried about the men coming in here, Chris generally selected building that were noticeably destroyed, burned, or extremely dangerous. People tended to check places that LOOKED worth looking inside of. You didn’t stumble across too many people thinking HEY, let’s go check out what’s on the second floor of that burnt out, shell of a building.
He made his way down and slowly stalked to the window. He peeked, the group walking no more than 15 feet, moving to his left. He looked behind him quickly and his father was shaking his head disapprovingly, but saying nothing. Chris looked back outside and listened.
“...to get this fine thing inside and get down to business. And don’t worry Timmy, I’ll leave some left for you when I’m done.”
The hooded man then said something that Chris couldn’t make out because of the hood, but it seemed the other men heard it, because one of them walked up and kicked the legs out from under him. The man fell, hard, and then got another kick. There was confusion then as the men laughed and talked about killing the man and raping the women while the women pleaded for freedom or not to hurt the man. “Son, you have exactly 76 rounds. Is this worth it? You can’t take them, you can’t go with them, you know this. I know it isn’t easy, but this world, it’s cruel.”
Then, Corporal Black was next to him, whispering in his ear. “You got this. Do it. Take the ones with firearms first, you know the drill. They’re close together, easy targets. And you’ll get at least two before they react. Make that third one count and you’re golden, Devil. Kill those piece of shit rapist thugs. Look man, someone in this fucked up world needs to do some justice. Be that guy.”
“Ooh Rah Corporal,” he said with a slight smirk to his old friend. He moved to the backside of the building which was completely gone from the fire and moved out, taking a deep breath and steadying himself. He looked back and saw his wife, father, and Corporal Black, each of their faces a mix of emotions. He took another deep breath and turned the corner.
Black was right. The first two didn’t have a chance to move, and the third armed man was holding a rope and kicking one of the prisoners, only having time to look up before taking three rounds.
The fourth man got out half of a plea to let him live before he was gunned down, and the last one managed to flee a few steps before taking a round in the back of the hip. He fell down and screamed and Chris kept the weapon trained on him, moving by the hostages and looking around to monitor the rest of the area, checking for other threats. He moved to the bleeding, shot man and just looked at him. The man was almost screaming and you could literally see he was in an excruciating amount of pain. “Please, man, please, don’t shoot me. I...I wasn’t...I swear I hardly—,” he went on quickly before Chris cut him off.
“Shut up. I’m not going to shoot you. You were shot in the hip. That round probably shattered your hip. You don’t feel it now, adrenaline and all.” He took a moment to look back at the hostages and then scan the area before continuing. “So you’re either going to die from internal bleeding, die of infection, get bit, or live and be unable to put much, if any weight on your lower body. Not ideal I know, but people like you should be fucking wiped from the earth. I hope you fucking suffer.”
Just for good measure, Chris kicked him one time in the hip with all of his force which prompted the man to scream bloody hell for several moments. He was back at the hostages in a moment, and the man was still screaming. He removed the head covers quickly and looked at them. They were beat up, sweaty, dirty, and you could see that they’d been crying to some degree. “I’m gunna cut those ropes. You are more than welcome to anything these guys have after I take anything I need.”
The group looked around, slightly confused for a moment before the light of hope shone in their eyes. He didn’t untie them, but instead looted the bodies first. Behind him, they were telling one another it would be ok and trying to be reassuring. The only thing he took was a gerber utility tool, and some 5.56 rounds that he wanted. He looked around one more time, ignoring the man screaming in pain about 20 feet away, he moved to the group and began to cut their bonds as they thanks him. He cut the young female loose first, she was around 16 maybe and she immediately went to hug her father while Chris cut the mother free, then the father.
He simply said there was no reason to thank him and then he declined an invitation to join them. “I have my group, we’re good. I appreciate it. Please be careful.” He moved to the building he was using, told everyone “we’re out in less than five mics, let’s go.” He got his own stuff together and when he went down, he heard his wife. “I am not happy you risked your life like that, but. You did the right thing.”
He nodded and looked over at Corporal Black, who was smiling and nodding his head to indicate he too approved of the decision. He looked around, seeing that they were ready to move out and didn’t waste any more time. He stepped out and moved away from the building and in a direction that wasn’t where the other group had come from, but not where they were going either. Gunfire drew attention, and they needed to stay low and quiet and be on guard.
He looked one last time and the mother waved her hands, watching the lone man walk off without another word.
"Son, you're going to have to learn. You can't save everyone."